A funny thing -love is
by Steffx621
Summary: It's Christmas time at the Echolls/Mars household ...only there is no such thing as the Echolls/Mars household...yet :) Written for the Veronica Mars Holiday Gift Exchange


**Author's Note:** LoVe Christmas Story y'all :) This was written for the Veronica Mars Holiday Gift Exchange over at Tumblr, and it was written for AbsolutelyIris :)

I hope each of you are having a great holiday season! Yours truly definitely is (hence the lack of epilogue in You&me -it's coming though!) and so I also hope this last couple of days of 2014 are awesome, and that 2015 is even better! Thanks so much for a great year here at ff and for reading my stuff! You guys are awesome! Merry Belated Christmas! :)

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><p>"New York City's subway system has 842 miles of track Veronica, <em>842 miles<em>," He explained as slowly as possible, perhaps making Veronica even more upset than she already was at him.

And sure enough, after glaring at him over her shoulder, Veronica shook her head at his words and kept on walking. She rolled her eyes to herself and let out small steady breaths as to not to make a scene in the middle of the street. He was such an annoying little jackass sometimes.

"Veronica," Logan called then again, but she ignored him.

She clutched her purse and bags tighter, and despite her short legs, she was walking quickly enough that Logan wasn't all the way caught up with her yet.

"Hey come on Veronica," He said but Veronica was stubborn and still slightly too pissed at him to turn around quite yet. So she kept walking.

That, of course, until Logan stopped walking and she somehow felt it in the pit of her stomach. She froze and slowly turned around.

"Veronica,"

Many other pedestrians were walking by them, but she only had eyes for Logan right now. Piercing blue eyes fixed on Logan, her jaw clenching as she stared at him. "_What_?" She snapped at last, glaring in that way that almost made Logan gasp.

Sure, she had reason to be mad at him, but really? It wasn't that big of a deal, they would still make it home –_eventually_– and that was the important thing, right? Who cared if they were a bit sidetracked, right?

"Well…what?" Veronica repeated herself, and rolled her eyes.

Logan ran a hand through his hair and took one step closer —of course one of his steps equaled three of Veronica's which put him right in front of her in an instant.

After all the following around after her, Logan had somehow forgotten all of his arguments. He needed to get her to stop being mad at him…right? How was he supposed to do that again?

"Veronica," He said again, softer this time.

"Yahtzee, you still know my name, many congratulations lieutenant," She snapped, but it was uncalled for. Deep inside she knew she was being a little bit irrational —okay a lot, but…if he had been so tired then he should've said something.

"It's my fault okay,"

No shit Sherlock! Veronica let out a puff of air and shook her head. "Of course it's your fault!"

Logan shouldn't have been surprised that was her answer, right? "Fine, at least we can agree on that," He told her back as lightly as he could. "Tell me how to fix it? Wanna take a cab?"

She groaned at that, and Logan was a bit lost as to why. "What? What did I say?"

"A cab? You want to take a taxi from who-knows-where Brooklyn to my place by Union Square, honey? Are you insane?"

"Okay so we just won't take a taxi," Logan replied shaking his head. "Are we really fighting about this? In the middle of the street?" Veronica had long ago decided to ignore all the stares they were getting but still Logan thought he'd remind her.

"Well yes, we are fighting about this!" Veronica told him in something just short of a shout. She stood on her tippy toes and stared at him firmly in the eye. "It's freezing cold —I'm tired, I'm _very _hungry, and you got us stranded in fucking Brooklyn,"

Logan made a face. "God Veronica, I'm so _so_ sorry I fell asleep okay?"

She supposed it could happen to the best of them, no? Falling asleep on the subway and waking up in the middle of nowhere?

Last thing Veronica remembered was snuggling close to Logan and resting her cheek on his chest. She almost remembered closing her eyes and the moment she drifted off.

The moment she didn't seem to forget however, was the exact same moment a couple of old ladies woke them up telling them in the sweetest voice that it was the end of the line.

Logan was supposed to stay awake and wake her up when they reached their station, but somehow he'd fallen asleep as well and now they were in the middle of nowhere. Which was pretty darn far away from where they should be.

And yeah okay fine, she was overreacting a lot; it wasn't as if Logan had intentionally fallen asleep and gotten them lost, right?

In the end, with a shrug of her shoulders, Veronica put down her fight —at least for now.

And of course Logan registered the truce quicker than Veronica herself acknowledged it. He smirked and leaned down, his eyes aligning with hers. "I can see a pizza place from here, wanna go?"

And then, in less than a second that little tinkle came back to her eyes and she _almost _smiled. She pursed her lips and punched him in the arm, before actually hooking hers in Logan's. "You are _such a_n ass,"

Logan shrugged —he'd surely been called worse. "Whatever you say,"

"Pizza better be good,"

Logan couldn't honestly help chuckling at that –God, he hoped so too. "Let's just go Veronica,"

xxxx

It was a little after eleven when they made it back to Veronica's small apartment in the city. Logan looked around and walked the small space as she spoke on the phone with her father. They'd gotten in around noon today, but they'd barely been in the apartment thirty minutes before Veronica pretty much forced him out. Logan didn't push her into staying before, but now that they were here and she was happily occupied for the time being, he was free to snoop, right?

Veronica had sublet the place to a couple the last few months but they had left a week ago and tomorrow Veronica was supposed to give back the apartment for good. Not that she and Logan had been attached at the hip since he got back from deployment, but when she'd said she needed to go back to New York for a few days, Logan hadn't complained at all when she also asked him to come with.

So here he was —four days until Christmas and Logan found himself snooping around in a matchbox apartment Veronica supposedly shared with the so-called Piz, once upon a time.

But that was the thing though —it hadn't been once upon a time, it had been hardly nine months ago. It was incredible how different her life had been —how different _his _life had been. Shrugging to himself Logan decided there was no point in dwelling over it now since well, there was simply no chance in hell he'd trade his life right now for anything in the world.

Six months deployed —two months back home _with _Veronica. Some days that thought still felt a bit too surreal to be honest.

But then he heard her talking in the background, and he smiled.

"Yes Dad, we were lost for like half an hour trying to figure out just where we were —Well my phone was dead —Oh but I know, _he's _in the Navy for Pete's sake, you'd think his location abilities were better, huh? –I know Daddy…"

And on and on she went on and as much as he wanted, Logan couldn't possibly wipe the smile from his face. Of course she didn't mention the only reason it took them almost half an hour to figure out where they were was because as soon as they got off the subway she started walking aimlessly, puffing and huffing and not listening to a thing he'd told her.

Logan wasn't going to be one to point that out now though. Instead, he looked at Veronica from across the room, and he smiled —_if only a little wider_— when she stuck her tongue out at him as she nodded at whatever her father was telling her.

xxxx

Later that night, after deciding they would stay in a hotel the next day, Logan sat in front of her laptop and turned it on. He honestly was glad she'd given him the okay to look for a hotel to stay tomorrow and for the rest of their stay in New York. There was definitely an ick factor going on for him right now, upon having to stay in the same apartment Veronica once shared with another guy. Granted, it had been _him _insisting she showed him the place, and stayed there in the first place, but now, with a clearer head, Logan surely regretted it.

He didn't care how Veronica's relationship was with Piz —or how it was for them in this tiny apartment, he cared that those two where no more, and instead, she was _his. _Hopefully forever.

Given Veronica was using his iPad on the bed, Logan had decided to use her computer to find them a new room. "Password Mars?" He asked her with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

Veronica chuckled from the bed, and only tearing one eye from the iPad's screen, looked at him. "Take a guess?"

"What? No!" Logan shook his head laughing. "I need to get us a hotel room, so…spill," He told her a little too impatiently for his own taste.

Veronica however wasn't taking him seriously at all —in fact, she even had to put his iPad down when her laughter grew too much. Logan was still smiling from the desk when she calmed down and fixed her eyes on him again. "Fine fine," She told him at last. "You'd be disappointed to hear my computer's protected by a simple random arrangement of numbers,"

Logan shook his head slightly at her —as if the word _simple _and _anything _relating to Veronica Mars could be used in the same sentence. "Your password _please_?"

She chuckled again. "443, 2031, 619…"

Logan watched amused as the password worked in that first try. He tilted his head looking back at Veronica while the home screen loaded. "Hey V…"

"Hmm," She muttered, already having pulled the iPad back in front of her face.

"Those aren't just a random arrangement of numbers, are they?"

Without looking at him, she shrugged. "It's random enough," Nobody she knew nowadays —_besides Logan perhaps_— would find any significance on those numbers, so it was a good enough password she guessed.

"Remember when we actually learned people's phone numbers?"

Veronica chuckled without looking up at him. "Just barely babe," She said between a laugh. Once upon a time she'd known quite a few numbers by heart —from age 14 on Veronica was positive those ten little numbers she told Logan had been dialed more times than she could count. Even after so many years, there were many the times Veronica was reminded of Lilly Kane —hitting some seemingly random numbers as her password in that laptop every day was just one those times.

In any case, before Logan could comment further on Veronica using Lilly's old phone number as her password, her screensaver caught his eyes, and he couldn't help tilting his head and observe.

"Veronica?"

She already knew what he was going to say, and it amused her far more than she was ready to admit. "Yes?" Ever so slowly, Veronica pulled down the iPad and looked at Logan's confused face with a wide grin on hers.

"What is…_Wallace _doing riding this colorful unicorn on your computer?"

His questions wasn't all the way out yet before Veronica was already laughing, and kicking those tiny legs of hers on the bed. Logan shook his head not even trying to keep the smile from his face. "Veronica!"

"What? What?" She called goofily, finally catching back her breath. "_That, _by the way, is your fault,"

Logan's jaw dropped slightly. "How is Wallace in this fairytale land my fault?" He looked at the screen again —it wasn't even half-bad, it sure as hell was realistic looking enough…it was just the whole idea of Wallace Fennel so happily riding the magical thing that got Logan scratching his head.

"Well, while you were off keeping 'merica safe, yours truly had lots, and I mean, _lots _of free time," Veronica told him then with a straight face. "I'm happy to report my Photoshop abilities have greatly improved since you last saw me honey,"

Logan wasn't sure what he loved more about her answer so in the end, instead of overthinking it, he simply laughed and nodded his head. "Please tell me there are more of these then?" Logan asked her after a beat, his eyes on the screen again.

Veronica shook her head in a _child please _kind of way. "I'm gonna pretend you didn't just ask me that, Logan,"

"Just so you know, I'm going to take that as a yes," Logan said stifling a laugh as he finally got to work in the computer. He knew Veronica wouldn't be okay with spending a small fortune on a few nights in the city, but…it was Christmas, and he loved her more than life itself. So in spite of the fight he knew would ensue, Logan would find a perfectly amazing hotel that she'd love –_eventually_— and he'd love, and they would both happily not actually sleep in it for the rest of their stay in New York.

The room was silent for almost twenty whole minutes, both of them engrossed in whatever was in front of them on their respective screens. Logan had found the perfect hotel, close enough to all the action that he'd be able to take Veronica on whatever Broadway play she wanted, and they'd be able to walk back to the hotel after grabbing whatever bite of food she'd feel like.

Just as he reached into his pocket for his wallet, his eyes of course caught sight of Veronica. She looked so focused, still swiping her finger over and over on the screen of the iPad. "What are you looking at anyway?"

"A catalog," Veronica replied simply; her eyes still focused on the screen. "Looking for a present…"

Logan kept his eyes on her and waited.

"I promised Hunter I'd buy something from FAO for him…I'm trying not to go broke while at it…"

Logan didn't say anything right away but instead took a small moment to process her words.

When Veronica shifted her eyes from the screen, and looked up at him, he wasn't looking in her direction anymore. She sighed, and sat up on the bed. "Please don't start,"

"What?" Logan told her defensively right away. He didn't look up at her though. He waited until he was done typing his credit-card number in the little box, before actually looking at her. "I didn't say anything Veronica,"

He actually hadn't, but she knew what he was thinking, and she didn't like it.

Now, that wasn't fair, she knew that, she knew she couldn't actually be mad at him for his thoughts, but…

But…

"I volunteered the info, didn't I now?"

Logan shrugged at her. "Sure you did," He answered before going back to the screen. He managed to type the security code of his credit card before Veronica was speaking again.

"Then what?"

She sounded mad, making Logan take a couple of breaths before looking back up. "Nothing,"

"Logan,"

"Tell me how's it gonna be then, Veronica? Are we gonna talk about it or not? Just tell me, cause last I knew, Hunter and your Mom where a no-no…"

Veronica threw her head back at that and groaned. "It's not like that!"

"But it is!" Logan insisted anyway. He quickly finished paying for the hotel room, and without a second glance closed the laptop's lid and slowly got up from the desk.

Veronica was looking at him seriously as he got up. "What do you want to talk about anyway?" Why did everything have to be this big talk with feelings, and stuff she wasn't comfortable with, huh?

Logan shook his head at her —she knew about what, but he'd bite and tell her anyway. "About this big humongous wall you've seem to have built between me, yourself, and your family—"

"They are not–" Veronica spoke, but Logan didn't stop speaking himself; their words overlapped until she stopped talking and he continued.

"They _are _your family –Hunter's your little brother,"

Veronica scowled and spoke. "_My half-brother_,"

"_Fine_, your little-half-brother, however you want to call him, he's still your brother in some way –ergo, he's _family_,"

Veronica shook her head and looked away from him. She didn't need a lecture about family right now. She honestly did not. "Let it go, Logan," She told him then after a beat.

Her voice didn't come as strong this time, making Logan halt on his next words. He stared at Veronica for all of twenty seconds before walking the rest of the way to the bed. "You're buying him a present —how about you just tell me how that happened?"

Veronica kept her eyes on the dip of the bed Logan sitting down caused. They were alleged adults now, right? She knew Logan was trying. He tried so fucking hard every day and she knew it. She saw it every day and she appreciated it more than she could ever put into words, but…_this, _blurring the lines between whatever it was her relationship with Lianne and him, was proving to be far too hard for her to handle.

Lianne was her mother —at least blood-wise, God knew in every other sense she was still a stranger to Veronica, but at the end of the day, she was still her mother.

However, she was a mother Veronica saw like something she should in all honesty protect Logan from. She didn't want her relationship with Logan to be stained in any way by whatever Lianne could bring into her live. That was perhaps the greatest reason why Veronica had kept that wall up for the last several months —she didn't want Lianne near Logan, or have anything to do with him. She wanted to keep them _separate_ —away from one another, she didn't want to deal with the two of them at the same time. She didn't want Logan to hear horror stories of her mom, and she most certainly didn't want to have mother-daughter time over coffee talking about her relationship with Logan. Not at all.

But then there was Logan —he'd taken evasiveness for months now. Back when he was still deployed Veronica had actually felt a little more comfortable telling him things about Lianne —not much, but certainly more than she had after he'd came back.

She wasn't sure why that was, but it probably had lots to do with the fact that when he was half the world away, not even Lianne could reach him and do whatever it was Veronica so irrationally feared she would.

What the hell was she so scared about anyway?

She closed her eyes then, and felt Logan's hand on her knee. Veronica looked at him quickly, and regained her poise in seconds. She shrugged at him. "He asks to talk on the phone with me sometimes…"

"Hunter does?" Logan asked her casually in the most patient and loving way.

It honestly amazed Veronica a little how patient and amazing Logan was. Sure, he was still a piece of work with a side of jackass every day as well, but it all came with an even bigger side of that overflowing tender patient love she could feel radiating from his very eyes every single day since they had gotten back together.

Veronica nodded at him after a beat. "Yeah, we've facetimed a few times. Mostly on the days he just doesn't want to do something, and instead begs mom to call me…"

Logan nodded his own head slowly at this information. "How come I didn't know that?"

Veronica actually smiled a little at that, and shrugged. "He has good timing," She replied easily. "You've never been around when he's called." She added a bit more serious. "It's only been a few times so it is not this big secret I've been keeping from you,"

Logan smiled, and raised his hands in mock defense. Veronica punched him in the arm, and despite everything, they shared a look and a small smile. "I never said it was,"

"Well good," She said as she pulled her phone from under the pillow. She unlocked it and after swiping her finger on the screen for a little while, moved it so that it was in front of Logan.

Logan took the phone and containing the huge grin that tried to escape, he looked at the picture Veronica was showing him.

"Mom sent it a couple days ago —apparently the kid was Joseph for their Christmas show at school." Veronica informed Logan quietly as he kept his eyes steady on the picture. She could see the way he was trying oh-so hard not to smile, and it made her roll her eyes. "Go ahead, say it,"

"Say what?" Logan told her back trying to sound innocent —he failed and Veronica chuckled.

He looked up at her from the phone, and mischievously looked into her eyes. Veronica was sort of smiling as well, so he shrugged, and just said the words. "He kind of looks like you,"

Veronica rolled her eyes but didn't try to deny it —whatever. She knew the resemblance wasn't that obvious at all —but at least for her it were the looks Hunter would most times make that reminded her a whole lot of herself.

"I feel I could be looking at one of those boyish looking childhood pictures of yours V…" Logan said playfully, as he continued to study the picture.

Veronica just looked at him unable to stop a smile form forming in her face.

"What color are his eyes?" He asked after a beat.

"Light brown —He…Hunter, I think he's pretty cute, you know?" Veronica said then, easily enough —it wasn't a lie.

Logan looked up at her, an edge of incredulousness in his face.

"What?"

He shrugged. "Nothing." He smiled brightly at her. "I just agree with you, is all…"

"Uh, huh…" Veronica muttered with a playful shake of her head.

"How come we're buying him some overpriced piece of plush from FAO?"

She chuckled at Logan's words, as she took back her phone. She locked it, and put it away before looking back at him. "He asked me what I was doing for the holidays the other day, so…I told him me and the beau were going to New York —he had no idea what was so great about the city, so I might of mentioned there was this huge ass toy store that would blow his mind." Even if she wanted to, Veronica couldn't keep the smile on her face at bay. "He made me promise to get him_ something _—even if it was _just a book_, he said…so there, that's why…"

Took Logan a few seconds to reply; Veronica smirked at him when the comeback didn't come right away. He breathed out a laugh and shook his head. "I'll say it if you want me to," He looked at her daringly, and after a beat, Veronica nodded her okay.

Logan shrugged. "That's _very _sisterly of you, Veronica," He said at last, and despite everything, they both laughed.

Logan used his fingers to brush some hair from her forehead when they both had settled down. "I can understand compartmentalizing —I do," He was the same sometimes too —especially when it came to his job, so he got it, but…still… "But you've been more than adamant about not talking at all about your mother since I got back,"

Veronica couldn't say anything against that, so she started fidgeting, and looked down.

"Does she even know you are with me?"

She looked up at that. Her eyes widened a little. "Is that important?"

Logan thought about it for a moment —it actually wasn't _that _important, but he was curious. He guessed it didn't matter now though. "Guess you just answered my question love,"

Veronica rolled her eyes and breathed a curse before reaching for his arm. "Hey no —it was not my answer, she does know," She told him with a small shrug. "Came up once when my phone dinged…" Logan narrowed his eyes at that, and looked at her funny. Dramatically, Veronica sighed. "I used to have a little reminder every day alright? —so many days till you came back, my phone would buzz and make a silly noise with the reminder…you happy now? Mommy dearest sneaked a glance of my phone once when it made the noise —she asked, I answered. _She knows,"_

Logan smiled at that —not so much at her words, or the fact that Lianne actually knew about him in her daughter's life, but at Veronica's retelling of the story. Also, the fact that she used to have the daily reminder —those six months had been the hardest thing, yet Logan liked to think it had helped them to be better at this relationship thing. Despite the daily bickering, he could tell things with her were very different this time —one way or the other they were actually communicating right now.

After a beat, Logan reached out and grabbed her wrist in his hand. He lifted it up to his lips and kissed her skin. He smiled slightly at her, and nodded. "We'll get something nice for Hunter…"

Veronica nodded her head as well and let out a breath. She tugged on Logan's shirt and pulled him to her not so very gently. Logan chuckled but obliged. "I don't want you thinking it's you, okay?"

"What do you mean?" He asked her back softly, their faces close enough that their noses where almost brushing.

"I mean about this whole thing —I like to keep you away from mom and all her drama," Sadly enough, that meant away from her little brother too. "It has nothing to do with you but it has everything to do with _her_. She's…" The word _poison_ was at the tip of Veronica's tongue, but she bit it down. Nah, her mom wasn't poison per se —she could indeed be poisonous though. "She's got so many issues still —and if I have to admit it, I'm not over everything she's done, so no, I simply do not want you around _that_ —around all that awkwardness and unresolved issues. You and I…we are in a good place Logan," She told him softly, her hand lifting up to his face. She cupped his chin and smiled right before leaning in and kissing him lightly. "And I just don't want anything to mess with it, okay?" Anything besides their own selves, but that was a different discussion.

"Fine," Logan told her back simply.

Veronica tilted her head and smiled sheepishly. "Fine? Just like that you are gonna let me off the hook?"

Containing a grin, Logan nodded his head slowly.

Veronica on the other hand grinned widely before she could stop herself. He let out a breathy laugh before quickly leaning in for a kiss. And of course for some reason his hungry kiss made her laugh and Logan shook his head pulling back. He slightly glared at her before kissing her again –harder this time.

There was no backing down now —Veronica then threw her head back when Logan went for her neck and kissed her. A little moan she didn't mean escaped her and Logan grinned against the warm skin of her neck. "No funny business at this place, remember? Your rule, not mine," Veronica whispered, her lips almost touching his ear.

Logan shook his head and instead of acknowledging that, he went on kissing her exposed shoulder and nipping slightly at her skin.

"Logan," Veronica breathed when he didn't stop. Her body arched towards him without Veronica having a say, and somehow she loved and hated that at the same time.

"No engagement of tawdry business were your exact words if I remember correctly lieutenant…"

Logan laughed a breathy laugh and pulled back if only slightly to look at her eyes. "Stop talking," He ordered playfully and Veronica laughed.

Her laughter however was replaced only a few seconds later by a shuddering sigh when his hand slid down and he touched her thigh. Veronica closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip. Logan was kissing her again and slowly lowering her on the bed. Oh hell, did she really think they were going to be standing by that so-called rule of Logan? Clearly, that idiot hadn't been thinking a lot before this trip.

"_Logan_," Veronica breathed when suddenly her pajama pants weren't in its place anymore. He flung himself down against her, and it was as if in seconds he'd managed to make her forget about just everything but the two of them. Nothing mattered right then –not her thoughts, not her issues and dammed traumas and whatnot but…_just him_.

Surprisingly enough Veronica was more than okay with that right now.

"You gotta keep it quiet then."

And at that Logan actually stopped, and raised his head to look into her eyes. He grinned. "No can do bobcat,"

Surprisingly enough, Veronica was _also _okay with that.

Oh it was good having him home.

xxxx

As soon as Wallace hopped into the car, Veronica could feel the look he started giving her. She didn't blame him though –Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer wasn't everybody's cup of tea, now was it?

She smiled nonetheless, and just for the sake of annoying him a little more, she turned the volume up a notch or two.

"It's Christmas eve buddy —you ain't allowed to judge," And of course those words warranted a small chuckle from Wallace making Veronica smile.

"Not judging –Gentlemen's word,"

And at that, _she _laughed. Veronica kept her eyes on the road as she changed lanes, and got into the highway. Once she'd gotten on the lane of her liking, she spared him a goofy look. Wallace Fennel certainly was one of the reasons she was genuinely glad to be back home.

Going back to New York —_with Logan — _had, if anything helped Veronica realize she'd made the right choice to move back to California. New York was great, New York was spectacular even, but _she _wasn't New York. She wasn't meant for that life, and for the past few months, dear ole California had reminded her of that.

Having her best friends, father, boyfriend-slash-Logan-fucking-Echolls back in her life were the best of bonuses for sure.

"Thanks for picking me up V,"

Veronica looked cocky and shrugged a shoulder at that. "Hey, if you are brave enough to travel on Christmas Eve, I sir, am brave enough to wake up in the freaking earliest hours of the day and pick you up,"

"In Logan's car…" Wallace added before he could stop himself.

Veronica gave him a look quickly, before a stupid grin broke on her face. She shrugged her shoulders one more time. "In Logan's car of course," She said cockily, and they shared a smile at that. "He doesn't mind,"

"Of course he doesn't," Wallace bit playfully. "How'd he do in New York?"

"Fine, great, why?"

"Nothing," Wallace replied simply. "For some reason I just thought it might get weird, you know? Especially consider you decided to stay in your old apartment,"

"Well it wasn't weird at all," Veronica said even though she only half-believed her words. "Okay fine, it was a little weird, but a normal amount, not like totally weird,"

Her dancing around a straightforward answer made Wallace laugh softly and throw his head back. He closed his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly. "I'm going to choose to trust you on that one, okay?"

"Kay," Veronica replied back simply, keeping her eyes on the road.

"How're you guys doing anyway? You using the new year as an excuse to finally move in with him for good?"

Veronica turned to Wallace and looked at him as if he were crazy. "First off, we are doing pretty darn well, thank you very much," She answered pointedly. "Second, I do not need an excuse to move in," God knew Logan had already asked her enough. "I'm just choosing not to,"

"But why?" They had had this conversation before but Wallace was yet to get an actual answer.

Veronica in any case, shook her head, and focused herself in the cars around her instead of Wallace; he could feel her shutting him off, so he sighed —loudly. "A guy can't make a joke around his best friend anymore, can he now?"

His words managed to make Veronica crack a smile, but it still didn't reach her eyes. "A part of me knows it's stupid, trying to keep some distance as to not become attached," She was_ way way _beyond the getting attached phase for sure, but… "But the truth is that his job freaks me out —I didn't get how much until he was gone, God, until he came back, but it does, and if something were to happen to him," Veronica hated herself a little when her voice trembled —she made herself keep going though. "I…I just don't want a house full of him," She wanted _him, him, Logan, _not the house, or the reminders or whatever crap, she wanted _him…_

Silence settled after her words were out, Veronica didn't even dare looking Wallace's way but instead kept driving and let the sounds of whatever Christmas carol was playing in the background to help her stop thinking.

That of course, until Wallace found his words again. "You've told him about that?" He'd guessed Veronica's reasoning as to why she wasn't moving in with him for real was somewhere along that alley, yet hearing her saying it was a complete different story.

"Nope,"

Her short answer didn't give Wallace much. His shoulders slouched, and ever so slightly, he shook his head. "You are planning to?"

"Nope,"

He breathed a puff of air at that, because he'd seen that answer coming from miles away. "Veronica,"

"What?" Veronica said hating the patronizing tone he was using a little. "Logan's going to leave again in so many months and then…then it'll be me again —me and my teeny apartment I can't necessarily afford, but I'm making it work. It's all gonna work out —it always does," Veronica could taste the fakeness of those words on her tongue and she hated it.

She hated being so pessimistic, but it was that or sugarcoat the situation, and she genuinely couldn't do that.

"I know those months were hard on you—"

"But you don't really," Veronica cut him off before he could continue with that thought. Her tone came out a little sharper than she intended but it was a little too late to take it back now. It was true though —nobody knew just how fucking_ brutal _those six months without him had been. How even _more brutal _the next time he'd deploy was going to be. Or the next time after that one. The truth was that nobody _really knew…_ "You have no idea how it was like, and that's okay, I don't need you too. You just gotta trust me that I'm making the best decision I can right now." It may change in the future —in fact, Veronica was sure it would. Most likely the day his commitment with the Navy was through and Logan told her _he _was through for good. She knew it was selfish —she was aware enough of just how much. She wasn't brave enough to ask him to quit —_she honestly just couldn't do that_— but that didn't mean she couldn't wish he'd do it on his own, right?

Veronica sighed then. "Enough about me," She declared after a beat. "How's your brother? Did he like the car?"

Wallace kept his gaze strong and focused on Veronica for all of twenty seconds before heaving a sigh as well, and nodding. "He loved it. The two day drive to Portland was well worth the look on his face when I told him the car was his to keep…"

"Good, I'm glad…"

xxxx

When Veronica made it back to _Logan's _place, it was only a little after seven am and she was glad to find him still in bed. Keeping her eyes on his sleeping form on the bed, Veronica kicked off her shoes and shrugged off her jacket. She slipped into bed quietly and gently enough as to not wake him up. Logan stirred when she moved to his side, but didn't wake up. He still managed to wrap his arms around her waist as soon as Veronica was close enough. She rested her head close to his chest and sighed.

Moments like these surely made up for every single minute of brutal loneliness and sheer wretchedness she'd felt while he was away. It were also these moments, the ones Veronica was more than willing to commit to her memory permanently. She already knew she'd need to remember exactly how it felt to be in his arms when Logan was still too asleep to open his eyes, but not nearly asleep enough to not hold her in his arms.

Veronica didn't realize when she drifted off and fell back asleep, but then when she did wake up, a smile came upon her face immediately at the sight of _him. _"Hey," She greeted groggily.

Logan grinned —he was completely awake now, which told her he'd been watching her sleep for a while already.

Was it weird that Veronica wasn't weirded out by it too much anymore? It used to weird her out a bit —actually a lot when others did it. With Logan though —well, it simply was what it was.

"Hey," Logan told her back softly. He ran a hand over her face, his fingers tracing the lines on her face before he pushed some hair off her forehead and kissed her there. "Didn't feel you come back,"

"I'm sneaky like that," She said as she tried to wake up herself completely.

Logan watched her as she blinked slowly a few too many times, before a dreamy smile made it to her face, and she met his eyes. She yawned, but then went right back to smiling. "You are cute," He told her because he couldn't honestly stop himself.

Veronica shook her head slightly, but didn't speak back. Instead, she snuggled closer to him, and kissed his bare chest a couple of times.

"You already decided what you want to do today?"

In all honesty, all Veronica wanted was stay in all day —_with him, _watch the same old Christmas movies she watched every year but _with him _this time and maybe even bake some Christmas cookies. Instead of saying that though, she said; "We gotta be at my Dad's at six,"

Logan laughed tucking a finger under her chin making her look up. "That's like ten hours away, Veronica. What do you want to do until then?" He asked her with a goofy grin Veronica could just barely take.

She reached up and kissed him on the lips softly, before pulling back and shrugging. She didn't answer though —honestly, she wasn't sure what to say. She loved Christmas –always had, probably always will. While Logan —well, he just had memories attached to the holiday —not so great memories and so Veronica in a way didn't feel like pushing him into a happy, merry Christmas he didn't want. Especially since he'd already agreed to do Christmas Eve dinner _and _Christmas day brunch at her father's. She didn't feel she could ask him more, really…

But then he said, "How about we get ourselves a tree?"

His words did the trick, and had her looking up at him in a second. "A tree?"

Logan laughed at how quiet her voice came. "Yeah buddy, a tree —it's Christmas, jingle bells, jingle bells and all that shit?"

She couldn't help smacking him on the chest, and then laughing when he whined as though her punch had actually hurt. "It's Christmas Eve, you ought to control your inner jackass," She warned, and he laughed again. "Seriously now, you wanna go get a tree? Decorate it? Be mushy and corny with me while I tell you my Christmas past stories and we bake cookies?"

She was mocking him so badly and yet Logan found himself loving it. He shifted on his back, and brought Veronica with him, laying her on top of him. She propped her elbows on his chest, and stared at him rather goofily. Logan contained a grin and stared back into her blue eyes for all of a minute before nodding his head —rather slowly.

Veronica grinned and cupped his cheeks with her hands. "I love you,"

Logan's face was unreadable for a beat or two —he was serious, just looking at her firmly in the eye, but then he cracked a soft smile and offered a nod. "And people dare say romance is dead," He quipped and while Veronica smiled at his words, she also started shaking her head. Logan gave her a little shrug. "I do too," He told her back simply. "Very much so Mars…"

xxxx

It had been far too early in the morning when in between a dream; Veronica started hearing her ringing phone. They were in the living room —sprawled out on the floor, she was laying on her stomach, while Logan held a similar position, only his arm was draped across her bare back. She could just barely remember when they fell asleep —she didn't know what time it was exactly when she passed out at last, but considering how very tired she still felt right now, Veronica guessed it hadn't been that long ago.

In the end, after about two minutes of the phone ringing non-stop, Logan grunted and shook his head slighting bumping it with the side of Veronica's body. Sleepily he mumbled then; "It's yours babe, mine's been off since New York…"

She let out a whine before she could stop it and blindly used a hand to search for the ringing phone. The noise was loud enough so the thing couldn't be that far away.

In any case, just as she was about to groan annoyed at the stupid sound of her phone and her inability to find it, Logan used one of his arms to reach under the couch next to them. Effortlessly he pulled Veronica's phone out, and with his eyes still tightly shut, he placed it in front of her.

Again Veronica whined, but at least she opened her eyes now. She wasn't even planning to pick up, just shut the damn thing off so she and Logan could go back to sleep, yet —still feeling groggy she glanced at the caller id, and suddenly she wasn't so sleepy anymore.

Her mother.

For some reason Veronica went to fear something terrible had happened right away. She didn't mind Logan's groan then when she got up from the floor in a beat, and swiped the iPhone to take the call. "Mom?"

Logan rolled onto his back, and watched Veronica answering the phone call. He rubbed his eyes and yawned as little by little the panic left Veronica's face.

She glanced over at him after a little while, and offered a little fake smile that barely conveyed that he shouldn't be worried. Logan nodded at her ever so slightly as she headed to the bedroom.

When after ten minutes Veronica still hadn't come back, Logan blinked the rest of his sleep off, and at last, got up from the floor. He tilted his head thinking just how they'd ended up half-naked sleeping in the middle of the living room without even a sheet.

He shrugged in the end and just walked in the direction of the bedroom. This rental was…nice. Not exactly the homiest place, but for the time being —especially because Veronica liked it enough to sleepover often enough— it was enough.

Logan peeked his head inside the bedroom, and was met with Veronica sitting cross-legged on the bed, starting at her phone with a goofy grin. Logan didn't even have to ask whom she was talking to when the sounds of a squealing child reached him.

Veronica spotted Logan right away, and with a tight grin she fixed her eyes on him while at the same time muting the call. "So apparently _I _gave Hunter an actual Hunter-size Cadillac for Christmas?"

Logan could just barely hide his own grin. He shrugged innocently. "Did you now? That's so sweet of you, Ronnie,"

Veronica glared at him and he ducked his head a little. "He liked it?" Logan decided to ask back instead of acknowledging the very well deserved glare.

Surprising him a little, instead of demanding an actual answer, Veronica motioned him with her head to move closer. Which Logan did —in half a second. He moved right behind Veronica on the bed, and watched the little iPhone screen where the seven-year-old boy was letting out rather happy squeals as he drove his brand new Cadillac.

They watched for just a couple of minutes in silence until the voice of Veronica's mom calling Hunter to say thank you to Veronica broke the silence between them. Veronica quickly looked at Logan sideways and they shared a look just as a giddy Hunter made it to the phone. The screen shook a bit as he grabbed the phone from his mother and walked to sit by the porch steps of his place. "Who's that with you?" Hunter asked then, rather seriously for a little boy who had been just having the time of his life less than a minute ago.

Veronica in any case chuckled, and shook her head at him. "_He_ picked your present so be nice,"

Hunter noticeably relaxed at her words; his shoulders slouched and he looked softer at the two of them through the phone. "I'm sorry,"

"It's okay," Logan said before he could stop himself.

Veronica turned to him quickly, but then just as fast went back to Hunter —time to start blurring those lines between Hunter and Logan apparently. "This is my buddy the pilot, remember I told you?"

Hunter's eyes immediately went wide. "Really?"

Veronica nodded goofily. "Say hi!" She instructed Logan who a little too awkwardly said his hellos and waved at the screen.

Hunter was still not over his shock though. "Do you really know how to drive an airplane?"

Logan couldn't help laughing at that. "I know how to pilot one,"

As if it were possible, Hunter's eyes went even wider at that. "_I _want to be a pilot when I grow up,"

Logan smiled sincerely at that. "Well, if Veronica says it's okay I could take you to the hangar sometime when you come visit…"

"Can he Veronica? Please Veronica? Please!" Hunter begged a little too desperately. His light brown eyes big and pleading on the screen.

Veronica's jaw dropped a little, and for half a second she had no idea what to say. But then the easy answer came; "We'll have to ask your mother,"

After that, they made silly conversation for another five minutes until Veronica wished him a merry Christmas and promised to let him talk to Logan the next time he called.

Still with just a blanket wrapped around her, Veronica leaned back against Logan and looked up at him goofily. "When in the world did you buy that toy car for him?" She asked him with wide eyes. "Actually, how did you even know where to ship it? _How _did it manage to get there in time for Christmas morning?"

Logan laughed and leaned down to kiss her instead of replying any of her questions —she asked too many anyway.

Veronica kissed him back without hesitation, yet when Logan pulled back she stared at him expectantly.

Logan let out a chuckle before stealing a small peck and shrugging his shoulders helplessly. "Someone might have been very —and I do mean _very _busy waiting in line for the Big Piano while I ordered the toy." He answered cockily. "And it really only took a quick call to your father to know their address in Arizona,"

Veronica looked at him skeptically for a moment or two —she definitely had spent her fair amount of time at the Big Piano, she even had the picture to prove it, but Logan was supposed to be browsing around while she did that, not completely making her little brother's Christmas.

In the end, she smiled painfully and chinned up so they could kiss one more time. "Well color me impressed lieutenant." She told him honestly. "Hunter couldn't be happier I'm sure, so thanks…" She added with a little shrug. "You did good,"

"So did you," Logan told her quickly.

Veronica however knew exactly what that meant —how it had nothing to do with Hunter's Christmas present but mostly the fact that she'd allowed him to be there while she talked with her brother and hadn't freaked out completely while at it.

Still refusing to take a compliment from him properly, Veronica shook her head at his words and looked back down. She let Logan wrap his arms around her frame as she rested her head on his chest.

It happened fast, yet Logan noticed the way she seemed to space out in seconds.

"What? What happened? Where did you go?" He asked her softly, yet the edge of franticness was there.

A breathy chuckle escaped Veronica and one more time she shook her head, as she tried to put on a front. "Me? Nowhere. Nothing. I'm fine,"

"That word has lost its meaning Veronica…" Logan told her easily. Her jaw dropped but he didn't care. "Bullshit!" He called with a laugh before Veronica could as much as form one word. "What is it?" He asked her again then. His voice came a little softer and tenderer this time.

"This Christmas has been great," She told him honestly —she figured she might as well, no? Logan's bullshit-meter sure as heck was in tune on this fine day.

He still didn't get where she was going though. "Okay,"

Veronica shook her head at that, impatiently. "No, no, you don't get it," And he didn't really. "You know Christmas might as well be my favorite holiday, right?" He nodded slowly. "I love it —almost everything about it, yet it has been _years_ since I've enjoyed it as much as I have this year…"

"Isn't that a good thing then?" Logan was still feeling a little too confused.

Veronica rolled her eyes frustrated. "Yes!"

"Then what?"

"Then nothing!" She just about shouted in his face.

Logan stared at her steadily for all of twenty seconds before removing her from his body and getting up from the bed. Veronica exhaled dramatically and called for him before he could take another step in the direction of the door. "Why do you have to make me do this?"

"I don't know —maybe I just fucking want you and I to work this time. I'm really sorry about that _sweetheart_,"

He was being a jackass and Veronica felt as though she wanted to strangle him. "It's nothing Logan," She told him again through gritted teeth. "Fuck it, you should get it! You are here now, but chances are you won't be here in a year's time, so yeah, I'm sorry about fucking caring about you too _honey," _She spat, and for a long moment there was only silence between then.

Veronica was looking down at her hands fidgeting, while Logan was still trying to sink it all in.

He snapped out of it quickly enough though, and before Veronica could look up once, Logan was already moving back to the bed, sitting before her. "It's not like I can control that Veronica,"

"I know," Veronica sighed. Slowly she looked up at him. There was sorry spelled all over his face as well as on hers. "I know, okay? It—"

"It just sucks I know," Logan chimed in because honestly he just didn't want to hear it from Veronica.

She shrugged. "It does,"

"Hey…" Logan called then when she looked down again. He hooked a finger under her chin and made her look up. However reluctantly, Veronica obliged. "Was that your way of telling me you want me to quit?"

"God no," Veronica replied right away. "It's not that,"

"Then you want me to stay with the Navy?"

"I didn't say that either," Her voice came soft, yet she was starting to grit her teeth again. "It's not like this is a choice _I _gotta make, okay? It's you! It's you who should be telling me what you are going to do." He was after all the one babbling about making _this thing _work, right? "Are you gonna re-enlist when you are through this time?"

Logan gave himself a few seconds to think that through before speaking again. This was in fact the first time she was being so blunt and straightforward about the whole Navy thing. "I don't know," He said, and could see Veronica getting mad at him by second. "Hey, I…I figured I'd decide once you and I had this conversation,"

Veronica squinted her eyes confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's not just _my _decision. It affects you too, you know?"

Did it now? Veronica shook her head at that and rolled her eyes.

Logan sighed. "That was stupid, of course it does…what I'm trying to say is that I thought we'd make that decision together,"

Those words surprised her a little —actually, a lot, but maybe this was how an actual relationship at 28 looked like. "Right now?"

Logan couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him at that. "No," He told her simply. "But eventually —I gotta be honest, you snapping at me because of _that _topic isn't really my favorite thing…"

A small smile made it her face in spite of everything. "What else would you do if you weren't with the Navy anymore?"

His eyes went down immediately and Veronica didn't miss it. That scared her —how much flying actually meant to him. She sighed then and before Logan could answer, she leaned in grabbing his cheeks and kissing him hard on the mouth.

Logan chuckled into her mouth and swallowed. "What was that for?"

Veronica shrugged her shoulders a bit uneasy. "I'm proud of you idiot," She told him flatly. "If I ever actually ask you to stop with the Navy it won't be because I don't think it's amazing and fucking _fantastic_ what you do. It actually is because I'm a selfish bitch who would love to keep you around for more than ten months at the time in between deployments,"

There, she'd said it now, and as much as she wanted, there was no actual way to take it back now.

"You are not a bitch,"

"But I am selfish…" Veronica said a little too bitterly —Logan didn't have to say it, she hated herself for it too.

Logan however, shook his head, and looked at her oddly. "No you are not," He told her seriously. "You are a bit…"

"What?" She asked him back quickly.

Logan in any case smirked at the way she knitted her brow, and looked at him cautiously, as if ready for the blow. "A bit _prickly_…sometimes"

The frown in her face didn't go away. "Okay,"

Logan rolled his eyes slightly, and let out a breathy laugh. "What I mean is that _I _like you like this. I like that things with you aren't a certain way —there's always something you'd do that I wouldn't have seen coming and I love it like that. Like…you know, deciding to talk about our future on Christmas morning,"

His words awarded Logan a tiny smile from Veronica. He smiled to himself for a beat before he continued talking. "I'm not stupid—" He said, but before he could keep going, Veronica puffed and Logan's eyes widened. They met each other's eyes and for twenty seconds they just stared with wide eyes.

Veronica laughed first and looked away. "I'm sorry,"

"What I was trying to say is that I should have known this was how you felt about the Navy," After all he felt the very same way about her job for such a long time. He'd grown to accept it as a part of her though, and truthfully, Logan was positive that he'd never ask her to give it up now. Not when it was such a huge part of who she was. Maybe one day she'd see the Navy as just that for him as well. "I understand this is hard though —and I could never ask you to stick it out if you felt it was too much for you,"

Veronica groaned at that, and slapped him on the head.

Logan let out a loud childish "Hey!" as he stroked the spot she'd hit.

Veronica was so not sorry though. "I _am_ sticking it out, all right? I just don't want you to die while at it!" She snapped at him, but as soon as the words were out, she grew quieter and recoiled.

She didn't push Logan though when he cradled her cheek and leaned in kissing her nose and other cheek softly. "You are awesome,"

She smiled a little, resting her forehead a little more on his. "I know that," Logan chuckled a little breathlessly, and she nodded, kissing him back on the nose. "Just stay alive, kay?"

He nodded slowly once. "Same back at you," As much as he'd like to, Logan couldn't ignore her still innate ability to get herself into trouble and dangerous situations.

She kissed the side of his mouth before offering a nod as well. "I promise," She whispered before leaving small kisses all over his face.

Logan took her in for all of a minute before finally taking her mouth into his. He was so going to hold her to that. A little more urgently he kissed her on the mouth, but Veronica's hand flat on his chest put a stop to it. A little moan that sounded a lot like a whine, escaped Logan when she pulled back. "Dad's waiting for us," She reminded him in a whisper.

Logan blew out a breath. "Right," He said softly. "Merry Christmas with the Mars can't be postponed, huh?"

"Jesus, no," She mocked him before cupping his cheeks once more. "Come on, it'll be fun," Veronica promised with a small smile. They kissed one more time then, for a couple of minutes at least, but when at last they pulled away, a smile was spread across her face. She shrugged at him. "You are a very good kisser,"

"Why, I know this," Logan answered and the cockiness in his voice made Veronica chuckle. "Just you wait until we get back from your father's,"

Veronica's smile went from normal to rather excited and childish in seconds. "Ooh, you've piqued my interest lieutenant! It better lives up to my expectations!"

Logan couldn't help laughing at that. "Oh it will. It sure will," He assured her, as a still laughing Veronica got up from the bed and started walking in the direction of the bathroom.

Logan tilted his head and smirked when she dropped the sheet that was covering her body mid-way. She didn't say anything, but instead a soft rendition of "Let it snow," started coming out of her mouth as she walked into the bathroom.

Logan stared at the door for all of ten seconds before jumping to his feet and following her in when she didn't close the door.

It was a Merry Christmas indeed.

_~Fin~_


End file.
